Being Boston terriers LOL.
Globe Human-doggie doubles are a reality, but it's in the character, not the jowls
By INGRID PERITZ
Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - Page A2
MONTREAL -- It seems that dogs have become our latest vanity project: We pick ones that look like us.
In findings that bolster long-held views at the local dog run, psychologists in California have concluded that dogs really do resemble their owners. And that's because owners unconsciously try to choose a four-legged companion that's like them.
"It turns out that whatever you're picking does have to do with some aspect of yourself," said leading investigator Nicholas Christenfeld, a psychologist at the University of California-San Diego. "There is some aspect of you that you see reflected in the dog, that makes you like it."
The finding may help explain why basketball star Wilt Chamberlain owned Great Danes, and U.S. presidents have favoured self-assured terriers.
Dog owners don't necessarily select dogs that share obvious physical traits like jowls, wiry hair or the tendency to drool at the sight of supper. They seek out less tangible qualities that reflect their own, Prof. Christenfeld said.
"Some guys just have a friendly and goofy look, and you look at their dog, and it has a friendly and goofy look too," he said.
For the study, researchers headed out to three parks in San Diego and took separate photos of 45 dogs and their owners. Then they handed out the photos to a panel of 28 psychology students, who looked at a snapshot of a dog owner, his or her real dog, and the photo of another dog.
Nearly two thirds of the time, the judges matched dog and owner correctly. But it only worked for the 25 purebreds in the group; most of the mutts weren't matched with their owners. That led the researchers to conclude that people deliberately picked dogs that would resemble them as the pups aged, something that's impossible to predict with mixed-breed dogs.
It also led the author to rule out "convergence" -- the notion that dogs and owners start to look alike over time, like old married couples.
Scientists speculate that the same impulse that drives dog owners to pick a canine mate that resembles them is at play when selecting a human companion. Research has shown people tend to pick a spouse of similar age, weight, ethnicity and level of attractiveness, Prof. Christenfeld said.
The psychologist, who worked on the study with fellow psychologist Michael Roy, said he was driven to investigate the myth of dog-master resemblance because of its prevalence in the popular imagination, as well as in popular culture. He cited 101 Dalmatians' Cruella De Vil, with her black-and-white hair, who is obsessed with getting her hands on the similarly hued dogs.
To his surprise, Prof. Christenfeld said his friends have not been offended by his findings suggesting they resemble their dogs.
"I was worried people would be insulted, but most people are actually flattered," he said.
"It reveals a fair amount about how faithful people really are to their companion. You imagine your dog to be a very noble beast, even when your friends and neighbours are horrified by the smell and ugliness."
The professor's findings did not surprise Canadian psychologist Stanley Coren, who has also researched dogs and owners. Professor Coren of the University of British Columbia found that women who wore their hair tied back tended to choose prick-eared dogs like terriers as pets. Those who wear their hair loose tended toward floppy-eared dogs like spaniels.
"We just feel a little more comfortable with a dog that looks familiar to us," he said from Vancouver. "Since we're so familiar with our own faces, we tend to pick dogs that have that vague resemblance to us."
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I guess It's good It just dogs, and not other animals , s often as I have been called a Horses A$$.
stephen
Topic: well this is just great, all my dogs are Ugly. (Read 1207 times)